Making Decisions
by FearlessJayne
Summary: Maura and Jane are 23 & have been best friends for 18 years. Now Maura is about to make the toughest decision of her life...moving away from Jane. One Shot/AU


**So, this idea came to me when I was at work tonight. I was thinking about how my best friend is moving next month and how hard/strange it's going to be without her being so close. I thought it would be fun to write an AU one shot with Maura moving away from Jane after being friends for so long. **

**In this story Jane and Maura are in their early to mid-twenties and have been friends since they were kids. I've never written AU before, so bear with me, folks. This is also my way of taking a break from "Moving On" until I can sort out what I want to do with that story. Ok, moving on. (HA! Punny!)**

**Sadly, I do not own Rizzoli & Isles. Bummer**

They always thought that they would be together forever. They never thought that one would be moving away from the other. After meeting for the first time when they were five they have been inseparable. Jane was always the rock and Maura was the smart one who always used her logic. Now they were 23 and Maura had decided it was time to move to New York City to start medical school. It wasn't easy for Maura to make such a hard decision. She had always been the weird kid and never had any other friends, other than Jane. Maura had gone to BCU for undergrad while Jane went going to Junior College to be a police officer. They girls had shared an apartment while in college within distance of each of their schools. Now Maura was facing the hardest decision of her life and she feared that moving away would end her friendship with Jane and she would lose the people that were always there for her, The Rizzoli's.

Maura was in her apartment packing up her things when she came across an album that Jane had given her for her 20th birthday. In the album were pictures of the girls from the years they have been friends and programs and tickets from concerts and events that they had gone together to. Looking at the album Maura thought back to the day, 3 months ago, that she told Jane that she was moving to New York City for medical school.

_Telling Jane her decision hadn't been easy either…_

_**Three Months Ago**_

_Jane had been with BPD for two years now while Maura was still in school. Maura had decided to tell Jane of her plans on one weekend that both of them had off. Maura was in the kitchen making dinner when Jane came home from work. _

"_Maura, are you home?" said Jane when she walked in the door._

"_IN THE KITCHEN, JANE!" yelled Maura._

"_There you are. Boy did I have a rough day. I had to chase a perp down after a hit and run, I ran into a wall when the perp made a quick turn, and then I got yelled at by a detective for letting the perp get away. I don't think today could get ANY worse!" exclaimed Jane._

_Maura's heart immediately fell at Jane's statement. She WOULD pick a day to tell Jane she was moving after Jane had had a horrible day. _

"_Jane, I need to talk to you. I wish I hadn't picked today to tell you, but I really have to tell you and I have to do it before I lose my nerve."_

"_Maur, is everything ok? Are you ok? What's wrong?" asked a concerned Jane_

_Maura's eyes immediately filled with tears. She didn't want to do this to Jane. Jane had been there since she was five. She was the one person she could truly be herself around. Jane made sure that no one picked on Maura and always included Maura in everything._

"_Lets sit down before we talk." Maura said as she motioned for them to move to the sofa._

_A worried Jane followed Maura to the sofa and sat down. "Maura, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."_

_Maura stood up and started pacing around the room and fidgeting with her ring. _

"_Jane….There is no easy was to say this…and you know I love you…..and we will always be best friends no matter what….and I will return after I am done medical school…..I just do not want you to be mad at me for what I am about to say….."_

"_Dammit Maur, just spit it out!" Jane said impatiently_

_Maura sat back down and took Jane's hand. "Jane, I'm moving to New York City for med school. This wasn't an easy decision for me and it took me a long time to think about it. I mean, I could just continue at BCU, but I really wanted to go to med school in New York City…..please don't be mad at me. This doesn't change anything. I will still come home and visit and you can come and visit anytime you want. Please say something!" _

_Jane was at a loss of words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her best friend of 18 years was telling her that she was moving to New York City for med school. They have never spent more than a few days apart their entire lives and now Maura was telling her that she was moving. Before Jane could stop them she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. _

"_Maur, why, why are you moving to NYC? I mean, I know you wanted to go to school there, but I never actually thought that you would go. I just assumed you would continue at BCU." _

_Jane fell back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. She could not believe what she was hearing. She also could not believe that she was crying over the news. Maura probably thought that she was a baby._

"_I hope you're not mad at me, Jane. I really did think about this. I wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision. I just hope that you support me in this. You're my best friend and I want to hear what you have to say about it."_

"_God Maura, of course I support you. I don't know what I am going to do without you. I don't have any other friends like you. You're the only one that knows the real me. The only one I can be myself around. I know that you are making the right decision and that you will be at the top of your game and wow everyone. You are brilliant and I know that you moving would never change our friendship." Jane sobbed._

_Maura scooted closer to Jane and took Jane's hand in hers. _

"_Please don't cry. I don't want you to cry. You never cry. I want you to be happy. Yes, I expected you to be a little sad, but I never expected this. I'm sorry that I told you today, but I didn't want to wait any longer. The longer I waited the worse I felt. You know I can't lie. Plus, I want the next three months to be the best. I want you to help me find an apartment in New York City, help me decorate it, help me pack and move. Please don't cry. You're going to make me cry and I do that enough already." _

_This made Jane laugh. She wiped her tears and gave her friend a small smile. "You know I will be there for whatever you want me to do. I'm not going to lie, this is going to be really hard on me, but I will do my best to help you. The one thing that I hate about this whole thing is that I am gonna have to move back in with my parents because there is NO way I can afford the full rent on this place. Thanks, Maur!"_

"_Please don't be mad, but I already paid my half of the rent for the next year. I didn't want you to have to worry about moving back in with you parents. I know your Ma gets on your nerves at times and the last thing you need when you come home from work is to be bothered by her. So, I decided that I would pay my half of the rent for the next year, and I will continue to do so until I am done medical school and I move back. That is if you want me to move back in after I graduate." Maura sad sadly._

"_Maura, 1.) I'm not mad. I am grateful that you thought of that and would do that for me and my sanity, thank you. 2.) If you don't move back in here after you graduate I will personally hunt you down and drag you back into this apartment. We have lived here since we graduated high school and I don't want another roommate, and 3.) I'm sorry, I don't know why I just heard this, but did you say you were moving in three months?"_

Present Day

Maura was still sitting in her room looking at the album when she heard Jane walk in the door. Jane had rented a u-haul to move all of Maura's things and had insisted on taking a few days off to help Maura pack and help her move.

"Mauraaaaaaaa, where are you? We have to leave!"

"STOP WHINING! I'M IN HERE PACKING THE LAST OF MY THINGS." Maura yelled back.

"I'll stop whining when you stop yelling!" Jane said sarcasticly walking to Maura's room.

"I'm going to miss this. It's going to be so weird living here by myself. I might need to get a dog to keep me company." Laughed Jane

"That would be wise, Jane. Animals are known to reduce stress and since you have a very stressful job having a dog to come home to would be very helpful." Maura googled her.

"I'll think about it. It's not going to be the same as coming home and talking to you while we watch TV and drink beer. C'mon, we have to get going if we want to make it there before dusk." Jane said while grabbing Maura's hand.

Maura stood up and looked at Jane. "Promise you will call me when you are stressed out. Promise me that you will come visit me. Promise me that you won't forget about your best friend, the geek."

Jane pulled Maura into a hug. "I promise. Now lets go."

Jane made it to the city in record time and pulled up in front of Maura's apartment building. She had helped Maura find a decent apartment not far from the college. Maura refused to stay in the dorms because she never fit in with people and she always felt awkward sharing her living space, unless of course you were talking about Jane.

Jane jumped out of the truck and went around to wake up Maura.

"Maura, wake up! We are here. You slept the whole time. Well, once you stopped crying about missing everything about Boston. C'mon, we need to get everything inside before it gets dark."

Maura woke up and glared at Jane. "Must you yell about everything? And as I recall I was not the only one crying."

"Hush, I told you not to mention that, and you know very well that I must yell about everything. Now get your lazy bones out of the truck and help me move everything in. Maybe after we are done we can go get some dinner and rent a movie since I am not going back until tomorrow."

Maura yawned. "My bones are far from lazy and that sounds like a plan. Let's go."

That night Jane helped Maura move everything into her apartment, ordered Thai food and rented Maura's favorite movie even though Jane hated it.

The next morning Jane woke up on the sofa and was immediately sad about leaving her best friend. Jane was laying there when Maura walked into the room.

"Good morning! How did you sleep?" Maura asked.

"I slept well, but now I wish I was still asleep so I didn't have to leave." replied Jane.

"Well, if you want to beat morning traffic you better get going and you have to have the U-Haul back by 5. I'll start some coffee. You go shower and get ready to go."

"Ok." Jane said sadly and walked into the bathroom.

An hour later Jane was standing in front of the U-Haul staring at Maura;

"I don't want to leave you here alone. I mean, c'mon Maura, it's the city. There are crazy people here. What if someone tries to hurt you? What if the other students make fun of you? What if….."

Jane was cut off by Maura. "Jane, stop. You know as well as I do that this is a safe neighborhood. Hopefully no one will try and hurt me. I don't want to be alone either, but I have to do this for school. As for crazy people, there are crazy people in Boston too. Lastly, if other students make fun of me I will just call you when I get home and tell you about it and you can be your wise ass self about it." Maura said with a smile.

"Now, you really have to go. I wish you could stay longer, but you can't because you have to get the truck back by five. Come one, off you go." Maura said while pushing Jane out the door.

Jane looked up at the sky. "I don't know how to do this. We've been friends since we were 5. We've never been apart for long. I'm going to miss you so much. It's not going to be the same. I promise to come visit when I get my vacation. God Maura, I'm going to miss you so much."

With that Jane pulled Maura into a tight hug not wanting to let go. She was going to miss her best friend more than anyone could imagine.

Maura was the first one to pull away. "Promise me you'll be careful. That you will think before you do anything. Don't go on chase alone, don't do anything without backup. I know you Jane, you don't like to wait. Be smart, always come home safe, and if you are ever hurt be sure you call me so I can come yell at you and then make sure you are taken care of. Promise me, Jane."

"I promise, Maur. You know I do. Ok, I better get going. I am already leaving later then I planned. I'll call you when I get home. Be careful in this big city. Love ya, Maur!"

"Love ya, Jane!" Maura yelled back.

Jane hopped into the truck and pulled away from the sidewalk. In her rear view mirror she saw Maura still standing on the sidewalk waving with tears streaming down her face. Jane started crying at the sight of her best friend crying.

Two minutes later she heard her phone beep. She picked up her phone and saw a text from Maura.

"_Stop worrying about me. I'll be ok. After all, anyone who messes with me has to deal with the wrath of Jane Rizzoli. PS. Miss you already! Call me later. – Maura"_

Jane looked at the text and smiled. She knew then that nothing was going to change between them. She hit reply and texted back: "_I don't know what you are talking about. ;) PS. Miss you already, too! I'll call you when I hit Boston. PPS. Anyone messes with you, you call me. No one messes with the friend of a police officer. - Jane"_

Yup, they were going to be just fine.

**Well, I hope you liked it. I wrote more than I wanted too, but I just couldn't stop. Let me know what you thought. ****Also, don't mind my grammatical errors. I wrote this after midnight after working an 11 hour shift. **


End file.
